Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Jack Reacher One Shot by Lee Child

Jack Reacher One Shot by Lee Child was published in 2005, and has now come to the screen, starring Tom Cruise. It starts with a shooter whose five dead bodies point to a military sniper as perp. But then the man says they've got the wrong man, and asks for Jack Reacher's help. Reacher is an ex military investigator, a loner who now takes only those cases that intrigue him or in which he feels that his particular skills can produce results that the police may not be able to achieve. Reacher is a fighter, a sharpshooter, a enigma driven by inward demons. This makes him a kind of mythic anti-hero, but not one who seeks outward rewards. In fact, Reacher likes being out of the spotlight, and is very hard to find. (This may be the key to Cruise wanting the role, too: forever in the spotlight, Tom is attracted to playing someone who avoids it at all cost.) Narrator for the Child series is Dick Hill, who nails the character and adds much local color to minor characters. I've talked to Hill in the past, and predict you'll enjoy this, regardless of whether it's before or after you see the movie version. If you like this, be sure to hear Hill read "24 Hours" by Greg Iles, one of the best audiobooks I've ever heard (although not available at Audible.) The emotions he evokes in dialogue there comes from years of reading between the lines of the text to interpret motivations. Not an easy task, and requiring careful reading, re-reading, and notes on where to muscle the tone, and how to foreshadow the blueprint that is the story's arc.